Två ton med elefantbetar i beslag i Vietnam

Customs officials in Suvarnabhumi discover a shipment of African elephant tusks from Mozambique. Suvarnabhumi is a major hub for both wildlife and drug trafficking, Thailand. The Wildlife Crime Story - from Africa to Asia: Sudanese Janjaweed militiamen believed to be responsible for the massacre of hundreds of elephants earlier this year are on the move again in Central Africa. Intelligence sources say they are headed back to Cameroon with the intent to shoot more elephants for their valuable ivory tusks. This time, however, Cameroon's special forces will be waiting at the border. Governments like Cameroon are becoming increasingly alarmed by the use of wildlife trafficking as a source of funding for insurgents. Rebel groups, drug syndicates and even terrorist networks have seen an opportunity to profit from what has until now been a low risk, high reward criminal enterprise. Populations of rare animals like elephants, tigers and rhinos are plummeting as a result. The products sourced from this bloody business are nearly unrecognizable on the other end of the trade chain where they are being sold in up-scale, air conditioned Asian boutiques. Intricate carvings, jewelry and medical tonics made from endangered species are becoming more and more popular in places like China, Thailand and Vietnam. Economic success has thrust swaths of people in to the middle class, and many have come with the desire to possess things that used to be out of reach to all but the highest elites. Although they are illegal, they are easily obtainable by anyone with internet access and a big enough bank account. Consumers of illegal wildlife products may not know that their money is being used by militias to purchase guns and bribe government officials. Militias like the one run by a man called 'Morgan' who led an attack on a wildlife refuge in Democratic Republic of the Congo in June. Morgan's crew shot dead seven people and took others as hostages and sex slaves. The destruction brought ab Foto: WWF / James Morgan

10 okt 2016 • Lästid:

Hittades gömda i en timmertransport från Moçambique.

I förra veckan beslagtogs två ton med elefantbetar av tulltjänstemän vid hamnen i Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, det rapporterar Bangkok Post. Bara en vecka tidigare hade 300 kilo elefantbetar beslagtagits på flygplatsen i Hanoi, då i en låda som enligt fraktsedlarna skulle innehålla glas.

Vietnam är en av de största marknaderna i världen för elfenbenshandel, och Bangkok Post skriver:

Vietnam outlawed the ivory trade in 1992, but shops still sell ivory dating from before the ban and weak law enforcement has allowed its illegal trade to persist. (…) It is also a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa destined for other parts of Asia.

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